Harry Kane was England's saviour as they avoided a monumental upset at the World Cup, recovering from 1-0 down to beat DR Congo 2-1 in the round of 32.

The Three Lions were on course for a defeat that might have eclipsed their disastrous Euro 2016 exit at the hands of Iceland, after Brian Cipenga fired DR Congo into a seventh-minute lead.

Lionel Mpasi made several outstanding saves to preserve that advantage until the 75th minute, but Kane finally beat the DR Congo goalkeeper with a downward header from Anthony Gordon's cross.

And that same duo combined for the winner four minutes from time, with Kane brilliantly lashing into the roof of the net to tee up a last-16 showdown with co-hosts Mexico.

England were hit with a bolt from the blue when Chancel Mbemba's switch of play found Cipenga totally unmarked on the left side of the area, and Jordan Pickford failed to prevent his shot from squirming in at the near post.

More nervy moments followed for a disjointed England team, and they were jeered at the first hydration break before carving out their first opportunity shortly afterwards, with Ezri Konsa deflecting Declan Rice's free-kick wide.

Another Rice delivery was met with a thumping Jude Bellingham header that was repelled by Mpasi, while a heroic goal-line block from Aaron Wan-Bissaka denied Marcus Rashford what appeared to be a certain goal.

An even bigger chance then fell DR Congo's way as Yoane Wissa turned Wan-Bissaka's cross against the post, then Mpasi made two brilliant saves to thwart Bellingham and Kane, who also saw a penalty appeal waved away when attempting to round the goalkeeper.

Rashford rippled the side netting as England continued to look desperate in the second half, while Mpasi showed his reflexes again to keep out a deflected Bellingham cross, but Thomas Tuchel's substitutions made an impact as Gordon provided the cross for Kane to nod into the bottom-left corner, via a touch from the glove of Mpasi. 

The game opened up even more from that point on, and after Bellingham's angled effort was kept out by Mpasi, Gordon kept the attack alive and found Kane for a spectacular finish from just inside the area. 

England had to survive one final scare as Bellingham conceded a free-kick deep into stoppage time, but Wissa's effort floated harmlessly over, much to Tuchel's relief. 

Kane surpasses Pele with talismanic turnaround 

England came into this tie unbeaten in their 11 competitive fixtures under Tuchel (W10 D1), while DR Congo – ranked 46th in the world at the start of the tournament – were playing their first-ever World Cup knockout-stage game. 

Yet the Three Lions started dreadfully, failing to attempt a shot or register a touch in DR Congo's area before the first hydration break in addition to conceding a dismal goal – Djed Spence was left to mark two men at the far post, and as he tracked Noah Sadiki, Cipenga was free to score his first international goal.

England had never won a World Cup match when trailing at half-time, losing seven and drawing two of their previous seven such games. 

But they finally ended that dismal record, thanks almost entirely to Kane and Gordon.

Kane's brace took him to 13 World Cup goals, surpassing Pele (12) in the all-time charts with only Lionel Messi (19), Kylian Mbappe (18), Miroslav Klose (16), Ronaldo Nazario (15) and Gerd Muller (14) now above him.

The 32-year-old, who is on five goals for this tournament, now has 16 goal involvements at the World Cup overall – since his 2018 tournament debut, only Mbappe (22) and Messi (19) have more.

Gordon, meanwhile, is the first England player to ever record multiple goal involvements as a substitute in a World Cup game, making a strong case for a starting berth against Mexico at the Azteca.